House and Cuddy get Closer
by EmmaHopeMaria
Summary: After a bad date, Cuddy is vulnerable and leans on House for support... will this be a big mistake?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.  
**Please, please, please R&R!  
House M.D. and its characters do not belong to me at alllll! This is merely a fictional story, for fun! Enjoy(:  
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Dr. Cuddy bends over her desk, squinting at Dr. Steeler's writing. It's scratchy and tiny, typical doctor chicken scratch. Of course, she thinks, looking up and noticing the doctor bearing a cane who was headed towards her office, at least he turns in _some _kind of paperwork at all.

With a bang, he enters the room. "Cuddy. I need a favor." He stops in his tracks, eyeing her with surprise. "You're wearing a turtle-neck."

"So?"

"I was just disappointed. Anyway, I need a favor."

"Anything for you, House," she says sarcastically.

He raises his eyebrows. "Don't get so excited, I wasn't about to ask for a blowjob," he jeers.

"What do you need?"

"I need to remove my patience genitals and replace them with a cow's."

Sighing, Cuddy murmurs, "What do you really want?"

"I need to cut off my patient's head."

"Hm," Cuddy pretends to consider this proposition. "Well, the head is a little important to survival… but sure, hack away." When he says nothing, she says: "No."

"I just need to severe the spinal chord. We'll put it back together, I pinky promise." He holds out a pinky in mock appreciation of his own joke.

"And how do you think you're going to do that?" she asks boredly.

"Dunno, haven't figured that out yet."

"Well, that's sort of important."

"Maybe."

"No, House."

"Ohh," he groans, "that's not what you wanted to say. It rhymes with no, starts with a 'g' though. Go, House, go! C'mon, it's a simple procedure. Textbook."

"No, House."

He sighs and turns on heel, departing from the room. Cuddy shouts as he leaves, "Remember you have 4 hours of clinic tonight!"

*********

House wanders into the clinic around 5 o'clock to flirt with an incredibly top-heavy nurse who's just started working and seems to think he's the most brilliant man alive. Unfortunately for him, Cuddy arrives at almost exactly the same time, looking as if she's about to leave for the day.

"Whoa, where are you going?" He asks.

She sighs, "Jamaica."

"You never leave early."

"I'm coming back."

"Where are you going that's so important?"

"None of your business." House stares her down, and then he notices it. An expensive looking necklace that she surely was not wearing before, bearing three good-sized diamonds.

"Who gave you that?" Not expecting an answer, he continues with the answer: "A guy gave it to you. You're going on a _date_. But why haven't you been wearing it all day? Do you not really like him? You're just going out with him cause he's _rich_, aren't you?"

"Goodbye, House. I expect you'll still be here when I get back."

House watches her leave. Actually, he watches her butt as she leaves. _Damn boyfriend_, he thinks.

He turns around to find Carrie, the new nurse, beaming at him. "I've got a patient for you, Dr. House!" She seems to think that this would excite him greatly, as she waves it in his face.

"Wonderful," he growls, snatching it away from her and entering exam room one. A young teenage girl is sitting on the chair, her round stomach telling House that she's pregnant.

"Hi, I'm Dr. House. How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen. I've got some questions. I think something's seriously wrong with my little baby."

"Oh really. Please, do tell."

"Well, the other day…" he voice goes down a little bit. "I felt this… nudge." For dramatic effect, House raises an eyebrow. "And I've been having a lot of cravings for cake and stuff lately."

"Wait… you're telling me you're having cravings?" He pulls out a notepad and writes down very doctorly, important stuff. "Tell me more, please!"

"I also threw up the other day. I just felt nauseous all the sudden."

"Oh, my."

"Is that bad!?"

"I'm not sure. What color was your puke?"

"Sort of yellowy…"

"Oh, my."

"What!?"

"Nothing. Go home, read a book on pregnancy. Oh, and these are for your baby." He writes a fake prescription. "Right now he has sixteen fingers. This should help."

Her eyes widen. "Oh my God. Thank you so much Dr. House!"

"It's no problem. Helping people is my passion." He winks.

*********

Cuddy slips in the back door, hoping to avoid a confrontation with House. She succeeds in getting in, he's busy when she flickers on the light in her office.

She slips off her high heels at the door and pads over to her desk. Sliding into her chair, she puts her head into her hands. The date did not go well. Phil was always the demanding, angry type… but tonight he went to far, pushing her into his car and basically beating her into submission that she was unwilling to give.

Luckily, she'd stumbled away from his car without too much damage—very embarrassed and with a few scratches on her chest and face. A particularly long scratch on her face from a ring on her hand stung like hell, but she was more damaged internally than on the external. He'd ripped the ugly necklace off her neck and called her a bitch. She was sure House would notice her lack of jewelry and the scratches when he came in, and tonight she did not want to face that.

She feels the deep scratch on her face and a tear of shock rolls down her face. She ran away from the scene as quickly as possible, focusing only on getting away. Now it was washing over her, what had happened. Another ass of a man had taken advantage of her—how many broken relationships was she going to have to endure before she found a good guy?

She sighs, and all the sudden a hand is on her back. She jumps practically off of her seat and looks up. Gregory House is standing over her, a puzzled look on his face.

"Did he say no to having your baby?"

Trying to cover her tears, she looks away. "House, get the hell outta my office."

His hand left her back, but she could still feel him next to her, hear his breathing, practically hear him debating what to do next.

"House…"

He took her chin and lifted her head up, exposing her runny make-up and tears. "Don't," she murmurs. "I look like shit."

"No," he purrs. "You look beautiful." With the back of his hand, he wipes a tear from her cheek.

An invisible force pulls Cuddy to her feet. House's crystal eyes are pulling her up, pulling her towards him. With a shaky sob, she lets him hold her shoulders steady with one hand and caress her face with another. "You're late. Everyone else left."

She breaks away from his gaze and looks outside her office. It's dark. He's right; the place is deserted. It's just the two of them.

With a spellbinding gaze, House draws her into him. He pulls her head towards his, and they kiss. It's like a sheet of ice breaking in half, or a screen door shattering, or about a thousand fireworks firing off at the same time. It's a magnificent kiss. With one hand, he continued to pull her into him, and he wrapped the other firmly around her waist and pulled her body as close as he could manage. Cuddy's eyes watered again at the thought of how this could turn out, but she wasn't near as unhappy as she had been about a minute ago.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

Cuddy was the first to break away from the kiss with House first. She looked away from him, blushing. "We shouldn't be doing this."

"You don't want to kiss me?"

"No, I do…"

"What happened to you?" With a soft hand, he turns her face towards him. He rubs a smooth finger over her wounds, a genuine look of concern in his eyes. "What the _hell _happened? Where's your necklace? Did this jerk do something to you?"

"House, it's nothing."

"It sure as hell isn't nothing! Did he hurt you?"

Another jolt of shock seeped through Cuddy's body and a few tears escaped her eyes. "I'll never be good enough," she murmurs, without thinking.

"Cuddy…"

"You don't have to do this." She backs up, hiding the tears that are streaming faster now. "Phil left me. He hit me. He tried to force me to have sex with him. I'll never be happy, and I just have to get over that. Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying these things to _you_!" Hysterical with fear and with hurt, Cuddy moved far away from House. "I'll never be good enough for any man. You don't respect me and I'll never get your respect. All the men I've ever dated have hurt me in some way." She turns away from him completely, wiping her swollen eyes. "Please leave, House. I know you'll just use this against me later."

She turns around and House is right behind her. His eyebrows are knitted together with hurt. "You don't think I respect you? You don't think I care about you?"

"House, don't toy with me."

He let out an exasperated gasp.

"I know that's what you're doing!"

And he kissed her. This time the kiss was much more forceful, much more urgent and full of lust and want. He pressed her whole body against the wall, leaning against her, breathing in her scent. He was a masterful kisser. He controlled the kiss, but he was sensitive and knew when to pull back just a little bit. With one hand he wiped away her tears, and with the other he supported himself on the wall behind her.

Even though her tears were freefalling, Cuddy felt a little better. House's strong grasp comforted her and gave her a little big of peace of mind. He pulled her against the wall and wrapped his arms fully around her. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I don't care about you," he breathed into her lips. "Don't ever make that mistake."

He bit her bottom lip just barely, making her shudder. He ran his hands through her hair, and she wrapped her arms around his back. He was a wonderful kisser, and she never wanted to leave this cozy little spot of being in his arms.

"House," she murmured, pulling away. "This can't work."

"It seems to be working fine to me," he purrs, trying to kiss her again.

"No, Greg." He stops. "I'm not just some girl you can screw and forget. I'm sick of guys who think they can do that."

Again looking wounded, he steps away. "I don't want to hurt you." The honest words almost seem to hurt him, but Cuddy can tell he means it.

"We… we have to go slow, okay?"

House steps towards her again. "Okay. If you insist." And he reaches up to her face, gently wiping away the hot tears and caressing the scratches.

Cuddy allows herself to hug him. He wraps his arms around her completely, and she feels warm and even safe in his strong arms. They stand there like this for eons without him saying something stupid. She senses that he wants to say something, but he's afraid he'll screw something up by saying something insulting. She's glad he doesn't talk.

"I'm going to try to make this work," he murmurs.


End file.
